Football: FIFA puts off ruling on S. Korean: report

06 Oct 2012 12:17:32

FIFA has postponed its disciplinary ruling on a South Korean player over a post-match political gesture at the London Olympics, a report said Saturday.

The international governing body failed to reach a conclusion at a meeting at its Zurich headquarters on the case of Park Jong-Woo, Yonhap news agency said, following the player's actions related to an island dispute with Japan.

The disciplinary committee will discuss the case again next week and FIFA has informed the Korean Football Association (KFA) of the postponement, Yonhap said.

Park, 23, was excluded from the awards ceremony for his country's bronze win in August after he held up a sign reading "Dokdo is our land" while celebrating the Korean team's 2-0 victory over Japan.

The Seoul-controlled islands, known as Dokdo in Korea and Takeshima in Japan, are the subject of a decades-old territorial dispute.

Olympic officials banned Park for breaching their rules against political demonstrations at the Games.

The player has still not received his bronze medal but will qualify for a pension paid to medallists, the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation has said.

South Korean Olympic gold medallists receive one million won ($897) every month during their lifetime, with 750,000 won paid to silver medallists and 525,000 won to bronze medallists.

The KFA has said Park took the sign from a fan in the crowd after the match and it was not pre-planned.

The incident came hours after South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak paid a surprise visit to the disputed islands, angering Japan.